Divrei Chaim

I have been meaning to do a post on this for about three weeks, but have not had time to finish reading up on the topic to be completely coh...

Earlier this week I posted the Bais haLevi’s distinction between the rule of safeik derabbanan l’kula and the rule of halacha k’divrei ham...

Tosfos (Kesubos 72a) asks why a women who counts 7 neki’im until going to mikvah does not recite a bracha before each day’s count just as w...

I am familiar with the opinion of the Ran (Nedarim 40) that it is permissible to pray for a person’s death where an individual is terminally...

This post in a continuation of the discussion started here and continued here , so take a look there first! We left off with a question on ...

Continuing from yesterday’s post, we left off with a question of why if you missed drinking a cup b’haseiba we do not apply the principle o...

Robert Coles, professor of psychiatry and medical humanities at Harvard Medical School, after describing some of the tragic cases that have ...

On Pesach night we drink 4 cups of wine in remembrance of the 4 expressions of geulah , redemption, used in our parsha (Rashbam). These cup...

On my train home Friday I met a parent with a child in a school different than my daughters who was bemoaning the policy of requiring a scho...

So what will your kids learn in yeshiva today about the meaning of diversity? I can hear the laughter even asI write this. I'm not a l...

A local newspaper has an article on blogging, and Krum , Orthomom , and my wife have already weighed in. I just wanted to add my 2 cents o...

The Rambam writes (milah 3:3) that the bracha of she’hechiyanu is recited after milah is completed, yet by pidyon haben (bik. 11:5) it is r...

The halacha is that a kohein working in the mikdash must stand barefoot with both feet on the floor, in direct contact with the ground. I h...

Last week we visited the sofer to order a set of tefillin for my son who will be bar mitzvah this spring. On the way home my wife asked me w...

Tosfos (Shabbos 95) asks why if it is permitted to make cheese on Yom Tov, which is a potential issur of binyan, is it not permitted to do c...

Moshe Rabeinu is reluctant to accept his mission to act as the Jewish people’s redeemer, and he questions whether the people will believe hi...

(Apologies in advance for this post being somewhat technical and jargon filled post - I have not yet found a way to make lomdish concepts i...

Ya’akov in blessing Yosef refers to “ Elokim asher halchu avosay lefanav ”, G-d before whom my parents walked (48:15). The Midrash offers t...

The gemara (B.M. 47a) presents a machlokes between Rav and Levi whether a kinyan chalipin is done b’keilav shel koneh or keilav shel makne...

My wife posted the following : My husband is (not always) patiently learning with my son in preparation for the latter’s bar mitzvah. When ...